The quotes in this issue
all pertain to meditation and spiritual practice, after
due recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. on his day.

posted to Daily
Dharma

Below are excerpts from a
speech Martin Luther King
gave in 1967 voicing his opposition to the Vietnam
War. When he first spoke against the war, he was met
with great opposition and ridicule, including guarded
but sure criticism from the press and his own
supporters. Eventually, he was admired for speaking
out, for taking a stand that was not popular, but
which he knew was the truth. In hindsight, we see how
right he was, and we are inspired.

And in this very day, we find ourselves in a war
similar in many ways. He speaks of the "arrogance" of
America, thinking it is our calling to be a messiah to
the rest of the world - and we flinch - who us? And we
know there is truth there. Even now. Maybe more so
now.

--dharma grandmother
who obviously got carried away by Dr. King's words. Be
sure to read his whole speech (you can hear him read
it too - and then he stops reading and the second half
is all spontaneous - brilliant, moving, much better by
way far than above ramblings. At:http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Take the One Seat

When we take the one seat
on our meditation cushion we become
our own monastery. We create the compassionate space that allows
for the arising of all things: sorrows, loneliness, shame,
desire,
regret, frustration, happiness.

Spiritual transformation
is a profound process that doesn't happen
by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training,
in
order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain
a
new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path we need to
commit ourselves in a systematic way. My teacher Achaan Chah
described this commitment as "taking the one seat." He
said, "Just
go into the room and put one chair in the center. Take the seat
in
the center of the room, open the doors and the windows and see
who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and
actors, all
kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your
only
job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass,
and out
of this, wisdom and understanding will come."

--Jack Kornfield, A Path
with Heart

From time without
beginning, our ego clinging has caused us to
wander in samsara; it is the root of all our sufferings, it is
indeed the
culprit. Considering others to be more important than ourselves,
we
should give up our self-cherishing attitudes and decide to act
without
hypocrisy, emulating in body, speech and mind the behavior of
friends
who live their lives according to the teachings. Mind Training
should
be engaged in discreetly. It should not be done with external
show,
in a way that attracts attention and creates a reputation; it
should
act as the inward antidote to our self-clinging and defiled
emotions.
We should bring our minds to ripeness without anybody knowing.

From "Enlightened
Courage", by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Swinging Door

When we practice zazen
[Zen Meditation] our mind always follows
our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner
world.
When we exhale, the air goes to the outer world. The inner world
is
limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say
"inner world"
or "outer world," but actually there is just one whole
world. In this
limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door. The air
comes in
and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door. If you
think, "I breathe," the "I" is extra. There
is no you to say "I." What
we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we
inhale and
when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is
pure
and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no
"I," no
world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door.

--Shunryu Suzuki, Zen
Mind, Beginners Mind

It is a
matter of transferring attention for this brief period
from the ego and fixing it lovingly on the Overself. For while
thought
dwells in and on the ego alone, it is kept prisoner, held by the
little self's limitations, confined in the narrow circle of
personal
affairs, interests, problems. The way out is this transfer of
attention. But the change needs a motive power, a push. This
comes
from love and faith combined--love, aspiration, longing for
Overself,
and faith in its living ever-presence within.

--Notebooks of Paul Brunton

A story and article
about Sri Ramana Maharshi and Chitrabhanu-Ji and the Principle of
Ahimsa
Dear Friends,

I have just uploaded to http://luthar.com/ a story and article about Sri
Ramana and my teacher Gurudev Sri Chitrabhanu-Ji which highlights
the
importance of the ancient principle of Ahimsa on the spiritual
path.